Bound By Something More
by lost my rent
Summary: prerent. Yet another...and semifarfetched theory on how Roger and Mark met...my first fic...be nice...
1. Chapter 1

The car was full of a tense silence.  
Sixteen year old Cindy was brooding in the front seat.  
Eleven year old Danny was asleep next to fourteen year old Mark who kept his focus out the car window. 

Their father had given up attempting to talk to them a few miles after they had left their mom's house, the home their father had decided to uproot them from so they could live with him, his new wife of seven months, and step sons.

Mark hands began to fiddle with the camera sitting in his lap.

Six years of mere birthday cards, the occasional phone call, check and now they had to live with him.

And the worst part, to Mark, was their mother had let it all happen.

She'd even called it 'a good opportunity for them to get to know each other'.

Could she really be that numb?

Mark shrugged to him self, well, it's been working for her, hasn't it?

"We're almost there." His father announces.

Thank God, the past hour felt like forever.

"Now, Cindy you'll get your own room..."

"Oh, goody."

Mr. Cohen merely ignored the sarcasm.

"And Danny'll share with Lee..."

Mark panicked a little, "Why can't Danny and I just share a room?"

"This way you will be some one roughly your own age...you guys can get to be friends."

Yeah, right, Mark thought bitterly.

They pulled up to the slightly large blue house. Mark shook Danny awake.

"Come on, we're here."

They grabbed their bags from the trunk and progressed inside the house.

"We're home." Mr. Cohen yelled up the stairs.

A woman in her late thirties came out from the living room wearing a broad, and overly sweet smile.

"Hey, kids. Welcome home."

Cindy scoffed at her step-mother, who pretended not to hear it.

"Why don't we get your stuff to your rooms, then we'll all have dinner."

Mr. Cohen walked over to her, "Sounds good hun."

And he kissed her.

Mark cringed. Disgusting.

His step-mother, Sarah, pulled away, and once again smiled brightly at the three kids again.

"Cindy, I thought you might want some room away from all the boys, so we've set you up downstairs"  
She turns, "Jerry, why don't you show her, I'll take the boys upstairs."

Mark and Danny slowly follow Sarah up stairs.  
They get to the first door and she pokes her head in.

"Danny this is yours and Lee's room. Lee, sweetie, they're here."

A thin ten year old brown haired kid lays on the farthest bed over, lost in a comic book. Danny recognizes the comic and brightens as he enters. She seems pleased that no one's head has been ripped off...yet.

She leads Mark down the hallway..."Here's the bathroom and your dad and I are on the other side of the younger boys."

Rock music was blaring from the room at the end of the hallway.

Sarah tried the door, but it was locked.

"Honey, open the door."

But the music was too loud.

Mark smiled to himself, I'm not the only one who doesn't want me here. But, eventually the boy inside answers the pounding at the door.

"Roger, honey, I told you to take the posters off Mark's side of the room."

He ignores her and she looks sympatetically at Mark before making her way down stairs.

Mark quietly shuffles into the room and drops his bags next to the bed before plopping on to the bed.

"Hey, that's my bed."

Mark face reddens as he moves to the other bed.

"That's mine, too."

Mark looks at the other boy who break out with a grin.

"I'm just messing with you, man. Mine's the one with green cover."

Mark nervously chuckled and moved back to the first one. Silence began to creep awkwardly back. Roger turned the music back to full pounding. Mark just stared at the ceiling...

Great, Mark thought, the step-brother from hell...

* * *

_Author's Notes:_

Okay so I know this is pretty far-fetched, but it was a random thought...and a friend of mine (countrybutterfly...she writes here too...check out her stuff) convinced me that I should write and post it.

This is my first RENT fic...

I own absolutely nothing...not RENT, or anything that already has been claim and/or copyrighted...

Hope y'all enjoy...

**out.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Good Morning Asshole." 

Mark heard just as he felt himself thrown from his bed.

"What the hell?" Mark yelped both groggily and severly startled as he hit the ground.

Mark slowly pulls himself off the floor, and to the best of his ability storms angrily after Roger.

"What the hell was that for?"

Mr. Cohen emerges from the room and quickly looks for a way to create some peace,

"Morning Mark, Roger. How'd you guys sleep?"

"Like shit," Roger glares tensely at his roommate, "He snores like a freight train."

"I do not snore."

"Yeah, okay. I just hear things."

Roger replies sarcatically before slamming himself into the bathroom. Mark looks disbelievingly at the door.

"Even if I do snore, it's not like an can help it?"

"It's just going to take some time for you to get to know each other, Mark, be patient. But Sarah is making some breakfast downstairs, why don't you go eat? We've got alot to get done today."

Mark watched as his dad turned back to getting dressed. Was his dad blind or just stupid? This was never going to work. Mark didn't want some time to get to know Roger...he didn't give a rat's ass about Roger.  
To hell with being patient. The first chance he got, Mark was getting out of hell and back home.  
Determined Mark went down stairs to the kitchen. If he had to tolerate this hell til his moment of freedom, he'd might as well eat some food.

Cindy was already in the kitchen, stabbing her eggs with her fork and not taking a bite.

"Good Morning Mark." Sarah greeted brightly as she set down a plate on the table.

He just stared at her but sat and ate anyhow.

Sarah ignored the tension and cheerfully went on, "We're going to do some shopping to day, to get your school stuff for Monday. I'm sure there are something that you guys had to leave behind..."

"Yeah, our mom." Cindy scowled.

Sarah gave up atempting to talk and Mark quickly shoved the food down his throat so that he could get dressed.

Mark opened the door to his cell to find Roger messing with a guitar.

"And you complain about me making noise."

"It's not noise, it's music."

"Music? Right."

Roger glared as the blonde twerp gathered some clothes out of the bag...he'd make Mark's life a living hell if it meant he'd leave...

Wait, that's probably what Mark wants to do, so he'd only help...and that's the last thing Roger wanted to do...

* * *

Thanks goes to: To No Absolutes countrybutterfly Harper's Pixie I heart scrawny Jewish Boys the-fraulein Koishii-Kitsune-Akira and Always Rosalind

sorry it took so long to get this chapter up...

**out.**


	3. Chapter 3

A very reluctant Mark climb out of the van for the first day of school, followed by an even more reluctant Cindy, and a highly amused Roger.

Mark barely listened as Sarah called after them, "Have a good day you three, I'll be back after school so you don't have to walk..."

After that Mark tuned her out and headed into the foreign building.

He made it through most of the day without incident. All of the freshmen were technically new to the building, so none of them realized that they had never actually seen Mark Cohen before.

But nothing like lunch time to remind one how lonely they really are.  
Mark kept his focus on his own food, not daring to look up when a tray was set across from him, however whatever hope he had was instantly shattered the moment the voice came out,

"Poor Mark's all alone. Good thing I'm here to save the day."

"Fuck you Roger."

"Oo, Marky's got a potty mouth." Roger responded reinstating all urges to put Mark in his place and reluctantly reaffirming where he had decided by sitting.

"What the hell are you doing, Roger? And I thought you were supposed to be a grade below me?"

"Skipped kindergarten." He replied nonchalantly, stating the hardly known fact as if it was really no great accomplishment.

"Yeah, right." Mark got up and decided to wait in other places for lunch to end.

Roger watched as the blonde stormed off. Not too bad, Davis.

"Who was that?" A black haired, blue eyed boy sat down next to Roger.

"That, Stuart, was my stepbrother."

"He goes here?"

"Oh, it gets better, he, his sister, and brother all moved in with us. And now I have to share a room with the pouting wonder."

"What are you going to do about it, man?"

"Do about it? Now, I'm not that evil. Yet."

When the final bell of the day rang, Roger made his way fifteen lockers down.

"You ready to go?"

To Roger's amusement, his question made Mark jump two feet in the air. But instead of answering Mark just glared, through the hallways and all the way to the van. Hoping with the smallest; wishing that if he glared hard enough that maybe Roger would spontaneously combust or something equally torturous or deadly.

"How was your day, boys?"  
Her again, Mark thoughts rolled.

"Fine." Mark growled.

"It was good, Mom." Roger sent his own death glare in Mark's direction.

It was another fifteen minutes before Cindy huffed her way into the van, not bothering to keep any negative thought inside her head.

"Well," Sarah interrupted Cindy, realizing that otherwise she would never have a chance, "I hope you have something good to tell your mother, tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Both Mark and Cindy's attention had been gained.

"Yep, she's picking you two and Danny up from school tomorrow; this is her weekend with you guys."

Thank God, Mark relaxed in his seat, maybe she would think that a week and a half wasenough of a chance.

But it was not to be. Ms. Cohen wouldn't hear a word of it even threatening to take them back if they said another complaint. The threat stopped Mark, but alas Cindy didn't believe her, so the weekend was just Mom and the boys.

On Saturday night, while Mark brushed his teeth in the bathroom he could hear his mom talking to Danny in the next room.

"I know it's not like it used to be, but you guys needed to spend some time with your dad."

"It's not that bad, Mom." he could hear the eleven year old reply. "Sure, it's not you, but I still like it. Sarah makes really good sandwiches and Dad reads comics with me and Lee. Roger's kind of mean to Mark, but Mark's meaner to him…and Cindy doesn't like that it that there are two more boys. It's not as bad as Cindy and Mark say."

"That makes me happy to hear. Night Danny."

Mark exited the bathroom as his mom waited in the hall…

"Mark. I know this isn't what you want, believe it or not this isn't the ideal situation for any of us but you've to make the best of it. Please, promise me you'll try."

He just shrugged.

His mom hugged him and allowed him to enter the bedroom where Danny laid in the bottom bunk.

He stared at the foot of the ladder for a moment looking at his brother.

"Traitor."

But Danny merely laughed.

* * *

Sorry you guys it took so long to update…I decided I didn't like where I had it going so I rewrote it. Hope you enjoy.

the fun stuff, in my opinion starts in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Mark didn't listen to his mother.  
Despite the fact that his little brother had "adjusted" well and even Cindy had started down a road to a good relationship with their step mother, Mark wouldn't do it.  
He didn't want a relationship.  
Not with Sarah.  
Not with Lee.  
And most especially not with Roger.  
Over the next two and a half months, bad went to worse...even Roger's original plan to "kill Mark with kindsness" was thrown to the wayside, not that he had honestly expected it to last all that long in the first place.  
Mark threw chewed gum on the guitar.  
Roger threw chewed gum in Mark's underwear drawer.  
Mark stole Roger's homework.  
Roger stole Mark bookbag.  
Trip.  
Punch.  
Fight.  
Scream.  
And so it went on.  
Eventually a temporary truce exsisted over Thanksgiving break, partially because it was a holdiay, and mostly because both needed to come up with new ideas.

For Thanksgiving Sarah had gone all out, and none of the boys had been allowed anywhere near the kitchen for the last forty-eight hours. Not to mention, Mark had already been subjected to both his dad's parents, but Sarah's parents and brother as well.

"Dinner's ready." Sarah's voice echoed into the backyard where Mark had exiled himself to take pictures.

Mark took a safe spot next to his granfather, while Roger was at the opposite end next to his uncle.

Dinner progressed with the normal topics, the weather, the parades, school, and so forth until dessert.

"Sarah, honey, you really went all out this year." Mark's grandmother commented.

Sarah smiled sweetly back, "I really wanted something special this year, the whole family being together and all...and..."

She paused to look at her husband who nodded, "And, Jerry and I also have a very special announcement...I'm pregnant."

There was a silence as Mark's head processed the news.

He shot out of the chair, "What the hell?"

But he wasn't the only one. His father stood from his spot, "Mark! Roger! Whatch your mouths."

But the two teenagers were already storming their way up the stairs and into their room.

"What the hell?" Mark repeated out loud.

"Why are you asking me? Do you think I went up to them, 'Hey, how 'bout you two have another kid, 'cos this house doesn't resemble hell enough.'"

"This is hell."

The boys went on fuming for at least ten minutes before Roger finally locked the door and opened the window, grabbed his guitar, and started the climb out the window.

Out of curiosity...Mark leaned out the window to see where he was going. Roger landed on the ground and looked back up at the window...

"So are you coming or what?"

Mark turned back towards the door, but quickly changed his mind, grabbed his camera and started out the window.  
By the time he hit the ground, Roger was already waiting at the gate.

"Hurry up," he hissed back to the blonde.

Mark caught up with Roger and slowly followed him out of the neighborhood and to the bus station. Roger pulled out a wad of cash and a card, and got two tickets.

"Where are we going? How did you pay for those?"

Roger shrug, "Discount, allowance, paycheck...what's it matter?"

The bus ride wasn't too long and Mark soon found himself walking up the stairs to an apartment building.

"Roger, where are we going?"

Still he wouldn't answer, but knocked on a door at the end of the stair case.

A man answered, mid-forties mildly well kept,

"Roger, what are you doing here? And who's this?"

He stepped aside to allow both of them into the apartment.

Roger set down his guitar near the door, "Um...I had to get out for a bit...and this um, this is Mark."

The older man's eyebrows raised, "I thought you two weren't getting along?"

"We aren't." Roger shrugs.  
Mark simply nods.

"So what happened this time?"

The older man question spurs Roger.

"Mom and Jerry decided to make a special Thanksgiving annoucement: They're having a baby."

He pauses as the man gives no repsonse. "You're okay with this, dad?"

Dad? Now it makes sense, Mark thinks still standing by the door clutching his camera.

Roger's father, simply shakes his head, "Your mom called and told me last night. Come on, Roger, you know...having kids...it what married people do...how do you think you and your brother got here?"

"I know...it just..." Roger couldn't find the words.

"It's final." Mark had found his voice. "No turning back. It's real. Its happening. And what if it happens agian...the whole not working out. Just another kid who gets torn."

Roger just nods.

The phone interupts the silence, and Roger's father answer it.

"Hello...Sarah...yes, Rog's here...Sarah, calm down...Mark's here too...yes...I'm sure its Mark...wait...a minute Sarah, just let me handle it, alright? I'll bring them back when they're ready...Tomorrow morning, I'll try. Yeah...yeah...okay...I'll call you before we leave here...yeah, alright...talk to you later."

He hangs up the phone and turns his attention back to the two teenage boy who have infiltrated his living room,

"Mark, you do know you can sit if you want...they want you back home by tomorrow morning...in the mean time...how about you show me what you were working on, Rog?"

Roger slowly got his guitar, and Mark had no choice but to watch.  
As the afternoon progressed, Mark saw a Roger he didn't know...had never been willing to know before.

"Mark, do you play anything?" Roger's dad had taken an interest in Mark, asked questions Mark's own father never thought to aske.

"I used to...the piano...and the drums, but not anymore..."

"Yeah,...he's too into his camera." Roger commented from the couch.

"Here, you want to learn?" Roger's father offered the guitar he had been holding.

"Um...no thank you..."

"Oh, come on, if I can teach Roger...I can teach you."

"Alright..." Mark reluntantly took the guitar, and Roger swiped the camera...

Maybe Mark wasn't so bad...Roger thought...maybe... 


	5. Chapter 5

Roger's father stopped the two boys as they made their way up the driveway, 

"Look, anytime you two need somewhere to go...I'm here for you, you too, Mark. And I understand why you came to me and honestly I'm fine with it. However, as soon as we walk through that door, we all know that I can't be okay with that...Okay?" He explained with a smile.

Both boys smiled back and headed to the front door. It was Sarah who answered first.

"Boys, you're back...thank God. Come on in. Thank you, so much Neil."

"It's no problem. I had the day off anyhow."

Mark's father appears from behind Sarah.

"Boys, march straight into that living room and apologize to your grandparents."

Neil gave a small push, "Boys, do as your told."

Rather reluntantly they both dragged themselves to apologize and after what was almost an 'Back when I was your age...' stories from Sarah's father, Jerry Cohen came into the room,

"Roger, Mark...up to your room. We'll discuss this later."

Mark followed Roger up the stairs, looking back once to catch a wink from Roger's father.

Roger threw himself on the bed and Mark sat on the edge.

"Boys," Sarah made her entrance, "I've dicussed this with your father..."

"Who are you talking to?"

"Roger not now. Anyhow, we've agreed...you two shouldn't have run away, but asthe news was quite a surprise for the two of you... you'll only be grounded for three weeks."

She smiled as if that made the whole situation better.

"Plus, it'll teach the two of you to get along and work together..."

With that she took her leave. Roger and Mark stared at the door for a few moments before brooding in their own little corners of the world.

"Uh...Roger?"

"What."

"Well, since we're,...is this...I mean..well..."

Roger sat up on his bed and turned to Mark, "Come on boy, spit out, come on, speak, boy..."

"Oh, shut up." Mark retorted smiling, "I was just wondering...well, truce?"

Roger looked at Mark's outreached hand and ignoring it laid back down, "I thought we agreed to that when yu followed me."

"I...I...I was just just double checking."

"Sure."

"Besides, I wasn't following you."

"Then what were doing?"

"Making sure you didn't do something stupid."

Roger laughed sarcastically, "Aw, Marky...you care."

"Shut up. I do not."

"Do too"

"Do not."

"Just admit it...you're happy I am now your brother." Roger teased plucking at the guitar.

"Step brother."

Roger reverted, "Still, you care."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

* * *

Just a short little chapter, but there should be more shortly. Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

Mark poked his lunch around the plate. Not only did he have a week left of being grounded, but school wasn't shaping out how he had hoped. He had met people, yes, but nobody he'd really want to get to know beyond their first name. And after practically failling his first test in algebra, classes didn't seem al that promising either.

"Why do I always have to come rescue you from your chronic lonelisness?" Roger sat his own tray down across from Mark, as the custom had gone.

"I don't have chronic loneliness."

"Oh, that's why this it's so hard to find a seat with all the people sitting here and all."

Suddenly, a large holler interupted the cafeteria, "Fight Oppression."

A older student ran shirtless from one end of the cafeteria to the other and out into the hallway.

"Why didn't the teachers do anything about it?" Mark asked.

Roger laughed, "From what I've heard they've gotten used to it."

"Why don't they just kick him out?"

"I think it's because they secretly find it just as amusing as he finds it serious. But that's Tom for you, he's good at that kind of thing, he's a genius too, gifted IQ or something like that..."

"You know him?"

"Not really, elementary school a little, and then I didn't talk to him until after last years homecoming game when he jumped the mascot in the middle of half-time."

Before Mark could respond, Roger's friend, Stuart appeared, "Roger, come here...I've got some good news."

Mark watched as Roger walked off for a few moments and then comes back grinning widely.

"What made you so happy?"

"This band Stu knows is looking for a lead singer and they want me to do a trial gig this Friday."

"Only one promblem with that."

"What?" Roger looked up, clueless.

"We're grounded."

"Oh, right. Shit...well, I guess I'll have to..."

"Find away around it?" Mark finished.

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Yeah."

"Okay, so it was. So, what are we gonna do?"

"_We?_ Oh no...not gonna happen...you got yourself in it, you can get out."

Roger kept pleading and yet Mark didn't step down. The whole week was able to keep his ground, until the afternoon of the gig; Mark sat there on his bed while Roger sat picking out a song on the guitar...a slow sad sound. Frustrated Mark threw his head back, "Fine! Come on."

Mark grabbed by Roger's arm and pulled him down to the kitchen.

"Sara. I know we're grounded, but I want to get a head start on this project for school...and I really need Roger's help navigating the library? Can we go?"

"Library?"

"Straight there. Straight back. We won't even look at the other buildings."

"Okay."

"Thanks, Sara."

"Thanks, Mom."

Mark grabbed his bookbag on the way out so it would look believable.

"Damn that was good Mark, even I believed we're going to library."

"We are."

"We are?"

"Well, I am...you're just going to spend an awfully long time looking for books." Mark grinned.

Later that night Mark sat at the table deeply entrenched in a book.

"Hey, Mark. I came to pick you guys up...where's Roger?" Mark looked up in a panic as he heard his dad approaching.

"Oh, he was off to find me some more books, but I think he's gotten distracted...you know Roger."

"Yeah. Why don't you go find him, I'll just sit right here."

"Sure no problem, dad."

His stomach slowly twisted. He was going to kill Roger. Well, first his father was kill both of them, but then Mark would kill him. He slowly made his way to the back and went back and forth through several aisles trying to figure out what he was going to do.

"Mark."

"Roger, what the hell took you so long?"

"I saw your dad parked out front...I had to climb in the bathroom window. Come on lets go..."

The two made their way back before Mark shoved them into another aisle. "We can't! You smell like cigarette smoke."

"We'll just say someone was smoking."

"Rig---in a library? Here take this." Mark pulled off his jacket and handed it over. "Put it on."

Roger pulled his arms through the sleeves as the began again.

"Here we are, Dad. Sorry we took so long. I was looking in the wrong section."

"Hey, Jerry." Roger greeted, aware of the surprise on Mr. Cohen's face, but wasn't sure if it was due to his being there or the fact he was wedge into Mark's jacket.

"I just came to pick you guys up, Sarah's got dinner ready." As the walked to the van Jerry looked at the two boys carefully, "You know boys, when Sarah told me where you were I thought you were just using it as cover...I'm sorry for doubting you two."

Mark and Roger just smiled.


End file.
